


Making Good On the Matter

by Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains



Series: Of Tears and Ash [11]
Category: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Genre: Banter, Discussion, Gen, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25583677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains/pseuds/Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains
Summary: Iphicles and Orestes resolve their earlier wager.
Series: Of Tears and Ash [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1050806
Kudos: 7





	Making Good On the Matter

The market was abuzz with activity.Customers roamed between the stalls, some clearly with a particular strategy or intention in mind, and other seeming to merely be wandering, exploring all that the vendors had to offer.For their part, the merchants present were putting on performances left and right, reeling in clients with carefully constructed pitches, designed to catch and command attention.Once a customer had been roped in, escaping from a stand without purchasing something was a task easier said than done.Iphicles had to admit, many of the vendors were quite skilled in the art of persuasion.

And all of this bustle was to say nothing of the banter, discussion, and haggling that occurred at the booths themselves.That was a different type of bustle from the one which occurred between vendors.Voices filled the space as much as physical bodies did, if not even more so.The veritable din created by the crowd made it rather difficult to hear one’s own thoughts if one had the misfortune to be swept up in the midst of it all.Iphicles wasn’t a fan of marketplaces for that very reason.The smaller ones in the moderate villages they passed through were alright enough, but the larger ones in towns such as this one were too chaotic for his taste.Somewhere along the line, once a certain threshold was crossed, a marketplace was transformed from a fairly innocuous space, albeit an active one, into an untamed, human sea, impossible to navigate unless one was an expert in the craft.Which, unfortunately, Iphicles was not.

These factors made Iphicles quite glad that he wasn’t in front of the stall, in the sea itself, but behind it, where the wagons were arranged.It was quieter there, though the drone from the throng still carried.Thankfully, the sound had been dulled to the extent that it was bearable.This in turn, made the task of keeping watch over the merchandise not currently on display, one which wasn’t all that unpleasant.Oh yes, it was undoubtedly a rather tedious affair, especially given the solitary nature of it at the moment, but Iphicles couldn’t complain.There were most certainly worse things he could be doing.

So far, no thieves had attempted to make a pass at any of the goods.Iphicles thought it was rather unlikely that any would.He imagined that any prospective ones most likely caught sight of him perched at the rear of the wagon, a hand resting on the hilt of his xiphos (the weapon hanging from his belt), and decided against risking it.The sort of small-time rabble, pickpockets and their ilk, who roamed marketplaces such as this generally preferred merchandise which could be swiped easily, or in other words, the unprotected sort.A watchful eye and a blade close at hand were both quite effective deterrents to such miscreants.After all, most of them were common thieves, nothing more.Not the sort of ruffians who were willing to risk a real fight.Thugs of that sort waited until a better opportunity presented itself, and then struck with force.They were nothing more than the urban variety of the bandits who plied the roads, ambushing loners or small groups under the cover of darkness, or cornering unfortunate souls in alleyways.It was too open and too bright for them to try anything here and now.

Raising a hand to his mouth, Iphicles stifled a yawn.The previous night had been a disquiet one, his sleep plagued by strange, troubling dreams.He had awoken in a sweat several times, thinking that he was still in the heat of battle against an unknown foe, only to be greeted by the dark silence of the room in the inn he was sharing with his fellow guards.It sufficed to say, he was far from well-rested as a result.He would be glad when Orestes and Kadmos returned to the wagon.The conversation and company they would bring would keep at bay the weariness which dulled his eyes.

Sweeping those eyes about the aisle which ran down past the wagons, traveling behind each merchant’s spot, he was pleased to see the two mercenaries in question approaching.It seemed that they had finished with their midday meal at last.He noted with further gratification that Orestes appeared to have a bundle of cloth in one hand.Iphicles realized that he was getting rather hungry himself.

As the two men neared, Iphicles greeted them.“Ah, Orestes, my friend, and comrade Kadmos, how goes it?”

“It goes well my friend,” Orestes answered.“And how goes it for you?”

“Most well, good Iphicles,” Kadmos replied to Iphicles’s greeting, his response following Orestes’s.He had grown a bit more talkative since the night when Orestes shared his wine with him, but he was still fairly reserved.Nonetheless, it appeared at least to Iphicles as though the other mercenary had finally grown accustomed to the presence of Orestes and him.

“It goes well here too,” Iphicles answered Orestes.

“Excellent, excellent,” Orestes opined, climbing up onto the wagon alongside Iphicles.Kadmos, meanwhile, leaned against the side of the cart, falling silent once more.Iphicles’s eyes wandered down to the wrapped bundle in Orestes’s hands.

Orestes noted where Iphicles’s gaze had fallen.“Ah, never fear my friend,” he said with a grin, “I did not forget your hunger.Far be it from me to leave my companion to starve, after all.”He handed the bundle over to Iphicles.

“Ah, and for that, you have my ceaseless gratitude,” Iphicles responded graciously as he accepted the bundle.Unwrapping it, he was pleased to find a portion of bread and cheese alike within.With a contented smile, he set about consuming the meal, pausing partway through to draw his flask from his belt and slake his thirst on the drink it contained.

“Say, my friend,” Orestes remarked after a moment, a current of humor in his voice, “How went the watch while we were away?Did any foolish thieves try to pilfer from your hoard when they saw how weak the guard set over it was?”

Iphicles laughed at the jest, shaking his head.“No, my friend, I am afraid they did not.After all, it was still I who remained here to watch over the goods, and not yourself.”

Orestes smirked at the witty riposte.“Ah well, at least I see some action once and a while.It must have been quite dull for you.”

Iphicles could not plausibly deny this observation, considering it was the truth.Instead, he elected to pursue a different tactic.“Say, now, good Orestes, I fear that we may have spoken of such trivial things for too long a time, when there is matter clearly more pressing for us to attend to yet.”

Orestes cocked his head at Iphicles, regarding him skeptically.Kadmos looked over to Iphicles as well, his interest apparently drawn by this statement.“Tell me, good Iphicles, of what do you speak?”Orestes inquired curiously.

“Ah, I speak of our wager, my friend,” Iphicles replied, a wide smile breaking over his face.

Orestes narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, before nodding.“Hmm, then we do indeed have a matter of greater importance to attend to.”

“That we do,” Iphicles concurred.“There is no doubt that we have reached the region of which you spoke not long ago.”He gestured with his hand off into the distance, where the Pindhos mountains were visible.“Are those not the peaks of Pindhos which my eye falls upon?”

“Ah, yes, my friend, neither your eye nor your mind deceives you,” Orestes affirmed, “For those are the peaks of Pindhos.”

“Well then,” Iphicles remarked, “It seems to me to be a fair time for us to see what will come of the bet we made.”

It was at this point in the discourse that Kadmos spoke, disrupting the conversation.“Say, comrades, what is this wager of which you speak?”

Orestes turned to the other man.“Ah, Kadmos, let me explain, so you may understand fully the nature of this matter.”

Kadmos nodded to this.“I would appreciate such an explanation.”

“Very well,” Orestes stated.“You see, Iphicles had never traveled into the northern regions in the midst of the fairer seasons before.He had only visited this land during the frost and bite of winter.Because of this, he was doubtful that this region could ever be considered pleasant.I countered him on this, saying it was a fine land, and a goodly place to visit in the spring and summer.”

“Ah,” Kadmos voiced his understanding.“I see now.And from this came a bet?”

“Indeed it did,” Iphicles replied.“The wager was this: if, upon traveling into these parts, I remained unimpressed by the experience, and found its merits still lacking in my sight, he would owe me the sum of three denarii.However, to the contrary of this, if I came to the revelation that my preconceptions were inaccurate, and that this land was as fair a place as he named it in the warmth and glow of summer, than the three denarii should come from my purse and land in his palm instead.Those were the terms of our agreement.”

Kadmos pushed his eyebrows up his forehead.“I see.That sounds like a most interesting arrangement.Though, I must say, to bet such a sum on such a matter seems a brave gamble indeed.Three denarii aren’t a pittance, after all.”

“Ah yes, you are right about that, good Kadmos,” Orestes interjected.“But Iphicles and myself are both the brave sort when it comes to such matters, those concerning pride and chance alike.What is three days wages to prove a true conviction?”

Iphicles chuckled at this, knowing his friend’s wit well enough.Kadmos, on the other hand, appeared somewhat nonplussed.

“Now, now, let us dispense with all frivolous discourse, and delve straight to the heart of the affair,” Orestes declared, turning back to Iphicles.“Now, my friend, what shall it be?Have you found that my view was the finer one after all?”

Iphicles grinned broadly, and shook his head.“Alas, my friend, I cannot grant you that victory.Though I must admit, this land in summer is far different from this land in winter, it would be a lie to say I like it more.”

Orestes looked to be, in a word, stunned.“But how can you not?”He demanded.“Surely, the clime, and the lush forests, and the verdant fields do not disappoint you?”

Iphicles shrugged, giving Orestes a look that was signaled faux chagrin.“To tell the truth, the climate here is too hot for my liking.I find myself drenched with sweat, even in the deep of the night!And the fields and forest both bore me, their green is so ceaseless!The color is pretty, there is no doubt, but in excess, it becomes a drab thing which tires the eye.Both the heat and the monotony leave me fatigued, to the point where I long ago for the chill and grey of winter, if only for the change it would be!”

At this, Orestes was nothing short of flabbergasted.Moving as if in a daze, he dug into his coin purse and dropped three denarii into Iphicles’s hand.“You may have won this one, my friend,” he commented, still thoroughly flummoxed, “But the next one will be mine.”The statement lacked its usual punch, Iphicles noted.He also observed that Kadmos was now covering his mouth, attempting to stifle a laugh.

“We shall see, we shall see,” Iphicles said blithely.

**Author's Note:**

> This is another one of my HTLJ fics from 2018 (set in my "Of Tears and Ash" AU) that I never posted, but decided I might as well, considering the time I put into them. Once again, since I'm no longer really in the fandom, I'm backdating this to when I wrote it, so no one thinks I'm suddenly back into HTLJ.


End file.
